Report: Apple began iPad mini mass production in September

The 9.7-inch iPad with mock-up of a 7.85-inch version

FORTUNE — If Apple is indeed planning to unveil a purse-size version of the iPad on Oct. 17, as at least one rumor has it, we would expect to be hearing leaks to that effect from Apple’s AAPL Asian supply chain.

As if on cue, the Wall Street Journal‘s Lorraine Luk, citing unnamed people “with knowledge of the situation,” reported Wednesday that South Korea’s LG Display and Taiwan’s AU Optronics Corp. began mass production of the LCD screens for the new device in September — just in time to deliver product in late October or early November.

According to two of Luk’s sources, the smaller tablet will have a 7.85-inch liquid-crystal display with a lower resolution than the third-generation iPad that came out in March. That tablet, like its two predecessors, has a 9.7-inch screen.

FORTUNE — If Apple is indeed planning to unveil a purse-size version of the iPad on Oct. 17, as at least one rumor has it, we would expect to be hearing leaks to that effect from Apple’s AAPL Asian supply chain.

As if on cue, the Wall Street Journal‘s Lorraine Luk, citing unnamed people “with knowledge of the situation,” reported Wednesday that South Korea’s LG Display and Taiwan’s AU Optronics Corp. began mass production of the LCD screens for the new device in September — just in time to deliver product in late October or early November.

According to two of Luk’s sources, the smaller tablet will have a 7.85-inch liquid-crystal display with a lower resolution than the third-generation iPad that came out in March. That tablet, like its two predecessors, has a 9.7-inch screen.